Fargo (1996)

An Uplifting Tale of Kidnapping, Violence and Death
A story about a bungled kidnapping that leads to multiple violent deaths and leaves a teenaged boy orphaned seems like an unlikely recipient of adjectives like 'funny', 'wry', 'humane' and 'oddly beautiful'. But that's the impression that this beautifully scenic movie leaves.
So perhaps the best review is to say that Fargo is an upsetter of categories-a film that uses the awful aspects of American life to point out the beautiful ones.
In spite of the resolutely depraved nature of most of the characters, we end up loving the fundamental earthy innocence of Frances McDormand as Marge Gunderson, the pregnant chief of police in a town that's noted mostly for its statue of Paul Bunyan and the presence of the inevitable Blue Ox Inn. The result is a 'feel good' movie that's about deceit and violence. Go figure.
Not to be missed is the awesome scope of the land of the Northern Plains. You have to watch this in the original format to appreciate how the broad horizontality of the land exposes the weird perversity of human nature. Maybe that's what the Coen brothers had in mind.

Lynn Hoffman, author of bang BANG: A Novel and New Short Course in Wine,The

Another positive review......sorry
This is one of my favourite dramas. I love all the acting in the film. Steve Buscemi is fantastic, this is a perfect role for him. This is one of those rare films where the acting, story and filming are brilliant, making it a classic movie.

Nonchalance! 12 Years Later, Fargo Does It Again
A perfect movie! So why the four stars? Well, I struggle with the Amazon star system. A five star movie, for me is something which touches me deeply and resonates within me long after the movie ends. This movie was brilliantly entertaining, without the "boom boom" of most entertaining movies.

I watched this movie last twelve years ago in the theater, when I was 12! I remember how much I loved this movie, because of the blood and humor. Now, with my interest in movies becoming deeper, I see that this movie worked perfectly for one particular reason...the pace. In Fargo, the Coen Brothers and Cinematographer Roger Deakins bring together Raising Arizona and Blood Simple/Miller's Crossing. In so doing this, they combine their unique humor with a ruthless crime drama. The thing that ties these two points so beautifully together is the nonchalance-feel of the whole movie. The actors, the scenes, the simpleness of the actors, the simpleness of the scenes. Enough said, see this film!

A last point, for language lovers. There is a great American English dialect spoken in this movie, which is a Minnesotan dialect. The dialect is apparently heavily influenced by Scandinavian languages (mostly Swedish and Norwegian, as Norwegians and Swedes immigrated to this region many moons ago.